EF3 Tornado — Volusia, Florida

2007-02-02 · near Beresford, Volusia, Florida

Event narrative

The tornado that killed 13 people in the Lake Mack area of Lake County moved east across the St. Johns River, crossed into Volusia county at Lake Beresford and moved across Deland as an F3 tornado. It was still moving east northeast at 50 MPH as it damaged 277 and destroyed 106 residences in the Deland area. The tornado finally lifted about eight miles east of Deland along Highway 44. There were no fatalities in Volusia County but 42 people were injured.

Wider weather episode

A series of powerful tornadoes swept across Sumter, Lake and Volusia counties during the early morning hours of February 2, 2007. A discontinuous swath of tornado damage was observed from near Wildwood in Sumter County to the town of Lady Lake (Lake County) to New Smyrna Beach (Volusia County). This was a distance of over 70 miles. A total of 21 fatalities occurred within Lake County. Central Florida was located in the warm sector ahead of an advancing cold front. Large scale lift was supported by a very strong jet aloft, with strong vertical shear. Instability increased overnight with temperatures and dew points increasing through the pre-dawn hours. A single long-tracked supercell thunderstorm traveled from Sumter County to the coastal waters of Volusia County during the early morning hours of February 2, 2007. Three tornadoes touched down along this track.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.0000, -81.3778)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 20318. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.